Saudi Post Office uses RFID mailboxes to ensure accurate delivery of mail
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Following the active RFID project in the previous stages, Saudi Arabia Post launched RFID-based mailboxes for citizens across the country. This deployment is part of the overall IT and service upgrade, which includes the use of active RFID systems to monitor the quality of the National Mail Sorting Center.
The new postal system of the Saudi Post Office
Passive UHF EPC Gen 2 RFID tags are affixed to each mailbox installed in the house for unique identification. Intermec’s RFID tracking solution is used in the mail delivery system. This system will upgrade the existing solution with RFID equipment, using Intermec’s CN3 mobile computer and IP30 handheld RFID reader to identify the mailbox before transferring it to the mailbox. After inserting the letter into the mailbox, the label is read again so that the Saudi postal system can verify when the mail was sent to a specific household. The whole set of handheld devices are equipped with global positioning system and wireless data communication module to provide management personnel with real-time updated data, such as information such as the location and activities of the postman.
The Saudi postman uses a handheld RFID reader to identify the mailbox before inserting the letter into the mailbox.
RFID smart mailbox
Before installing RFID mailboxes, Saudi citizens generally picked up their letters at the post office, where they had to do some banking and pay electricity bills. There is no mailbox in front of every house, and there is no unified processing system across the country. This restriction has caused different entities, such as electric power companies or private logistics companies, to adopt their own processing systems at the same location, causing confusion and easy delays in the delivery of packages and mail. In order to correct this problem, the Saudi Post Office, run by the government, standardized its addresses in 2004 and planned an RFID-based mailbox project. As of the end of 2005, the Saudi Post Office had deployed RFID mailboxes in Riyadh.
So far, millions of mailboxes with RFID tags have been installed in many cities in Saudi Arabia, and it is called the Wasel project. Very similar to the mailboxes widely used in Europe, these mailboxes are installed on the outer walls of houses and buildings.
Saudi Arabia Post installed a mailbox with EPC Gen 2 RFID tags embedded in each family.
Tariq Enaya, the regional sales manager of Cisco, which assists Saudi Post, said, “Saudi Arabia has not adopted this technology before. Since there is no mailbox, why not use the latest technology to create a new mailbox?” Cisco has been assisting Saudi Post on a large scale. Upgrade the IT infrastructure to help the organization better participate in the express service competition with private logistics companies (such as DHL or FedEx), and actively prepare for the eventual privatization.
The label used-has 96-bit programmable memory, working frequency is 915MHz, and is glued to a steel letter box with a plastic leather bag. The plastic skin can prevent metals from interfering with the signal transmission of the tag, and it can also isolate the tag from severe weather such as sand and storms. The summer in Saudi Arabia is extremely hot, with temperatures reaching up to 50 degrees Celsius, while humidity in coastal cities is close to 100%. However, this tag can work normally at temperatures ranging from -25 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees Celsius.
In addition to providing smart mailboxes for families, Saudi Arabia currently provides mail boxes for its citizens. The postman will confirm whether everyone needs to use these two systems.
Intermec’s CN3 mobile computer and add-on IP30 RFID reader
New pilot
Majed M. Al Esmail, IT general manager of Saudi Arabia Post, pointed out that the agency is planning to launch a pilot program to use RFID mailboxes and print barcodes on mail items to monitor the operation of the national mail sorting center. A major feature of the current monitoring system is to stick semi-active RFID tags on ordinary test letters.
The letters for these tests were mailed from randomly selected locations, and they were all placed in the main postal sorting centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam for tracking. Saudi Post also has three mobile reading systems, which can be installed in any facility to track the quality of mail. Each mobile system includes a special computer as a controller, and also includes a reader and two unit devices that activate RFID tags. These device units are connected to the main server of Saudi Post via the GSM network. When the quality test is required, the operator can move the device.
At the end of July 2009, Saudi Post may also conduct a new pilot. In the pilot, Saudi Post intends to use existing infrastructure to track 500 bags of government mail with semi-active RFID tags. Lyngsoe Systems provides a complete set of systems and labels. Each government mail is printed with a unique ID barcode, by which Saudi Post can know which specific mail is contained in a particular bag. As a pilot, the mail operator plans to expand the reader-writer infrastructure to three other postal sorting centers.
Once the government’s mail is delivered to the RFID-based mailbox, and after the postman scans the mailbox label, the information obtained will become the electronic credential of the delivery receipt.
According to the staff, the main advantage of the system is that it can ensure that the correct mail is delivered to the appropriate mailbox and can be used as a proof of delivery receipt. If a test project for mail with semi-active labels is started, combined with an RFID-based mailbox system, Saudi Post can also track the time required for delivery to each household.
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